Pro rider Megan Armitage is one of Ireland’s top emerging talents, recently taking a historic UCI victory. However, though now a top rider expected to ride the Tour de France this year, she has had to overcome self-doubts and over-analysis along the way. In a rare insight into the mind of a leading rider, she explains to stickybottle how her approach to the sport has changed over the past three years, how working with a sports psychologist has improved things, and why she’ll take a reduced-pressure approach to the Tour if she is on the start line this year. Photo by Aubin Lipke
By Shane Stokes
Megan Armitage was the picture of focus and determination in the Vuelta Extremadura Féminas in March, taking the final stage and becoming the first Irishwoman to ever win a UCI-ranked stage race. The Arkéa Pro Cycling rider seemed almost clinical in her dispatching of the other riders. But, according to Armitage herself, she has had to work hard on her approach to the sport, including using a sport psychologist to get the best out of herself.
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“For me, it’s an ongoing thing,” she tells stickybottle. “It’s fantastic when your training’s going well, when you feel good and your race results are good. Then obviously your confidence is going to be high. But when your training is not going as well.… I used to base a lot of how I felt on how my training was going. If my training wasn’t going good, then I was like, ‘oh, my races aren’t going to go well.’ It’s just a vicious cycle. You think, ‘if I don’t get a good result then I’m not going to get on a good team. And then I can’t do this any more.’ It just spirals out of control.”
Armitage only took up the sport three years ago. She was a runner who started cycling in March 2020 due to an injury, and did her first races in September of that same year.
Since then she has made rapid progress both at home and abroad, including taking the runner-up slot in the 2021 nationals, victory in last year’s national criterium championships, fourth and seventh on stages plus 11th overall in the 2.1-ranked Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche in September and, in March, a stage win plus overall in the 2.2-ranked Vuelta Extremadura Féminas.
Most recently she was fourth in the 1.1-ranked Grand Prix de Chambéry and won the mountains classification, as well as placing 33rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. She was the first Irishwoman to ever ride the race.
Armitage says that part of her success is down to improving her approach to the sport. Here are some of the key changes made and lessons learned:
1 Working with a professional
Armitage’s relatively recent conversation from running to cycling has meant she has had to learn a lot of things very quickly. One thing that has helped was starting to work with sport psychologist Ciara Losty around the start of the 2022 season.
“I definitely have had help from a sports psychologist,” she explains. “It is something that I will be 100% continuing to do. Because for me, I definitely need it. Some people are lucky and they don’t need it, but I definitely do.”
2 Keeping a sense of perspective
Losty has helped Armitage in a number of areas, including relieving some of the pressure she used to put herself under earlier in her career.
“For me, the biggest thing is my head,” she explains. “I can have the best legs and then just get too much in my head. I’m trying to work on that. Like, not going into races thinking, ‘I have to win this, and if I don’t win then I’m a bad cyclist.’
“Instead I’m just trying to go into races and know that no matter what the result is, that I’ll have come out the other end a better cyclist than I went in. I’m trying to reframe it.”
3 Focussing on what is under her control
Cycling is a chaotic sport when compared to many others. There are a huge field of competitors, as well as unpredictable tactics, uncontrollable weather and challenging terrain. Fixating on all of those is impossible. Like many other top competitors, Armitage has learned to focus on doing what you can do as well as possible rather than obsessing on the end result.
“For me it’s just trying to focus on controlling the controllables,” she explains. “And after that, just letting the chips fall as they may.
“With cycling, there are so many variables that come into it. And a lot of those variables are unfortunately out of your control.
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“You can have the best legs, but things can happen. For example, in the Tour de Normandy, I had really good legs. I was positioned well for the finish on the first stage, and then a girl just slid out in front of me with 300 metres to go and there was nothing I could do about it. So yeah, you just have to learn from it.”
4 Reframing her approach to see a bigger picture
Armitage went into last year’s national championships as one of the big favourites. She had finished second to Imogen Cotter in 2021, had grown stronger in the months since then and seemed very much like one to watch.
Unfortunately for her, her competitors felt the same way. She launched multiple attacks but was marked closely each time, and ended up sixth. She left Kanturk frustrated and disappointed.
She said there will be less self-imposed pressure the next time around. “Obviously, everyone wants to win nationals. And it would be amazing to wear the jersey one day,” she explains. “But it’s not the defining moment of my career.
“I’ll give it my all and I’m really excited for it. But for me, I want to go in also [with the viewpoint that] it’s a really nice opportunity to see all the Irish girls. Like, we’re all on different teams this year, so getting to meet up with everyone is also super special. And so too just actually just getting home, and getting to see everyone. Those things are equally as important.
“But obviously I’m gonna give it my all, that’s for sure.”
5 Seeing pluses rather than pressure in a Tour de France ride
Just like the nationals, Armitage envisages a similar approach to the biggest event in the sport, the women’s Tour de France. Arkéa Pro Cycling was recently confirmed as a wildcard team, and Armitage recently revealed to stickybottle that her team has told her she will be one of those to be selected.
She wants to approach the race in a way which will reduce the pressure but boost her chances.
“It’s something that I’ll be definitely trying to peek for. Obviously, I’ll be wanting to get the best results that I possibly can, but also it will be a massive moment for me personally. So I want to actually enjoy it and take it all in, instead of just being nervous about performing.
“I think if I go in happy then that is when the results will come.”
6 Using other people’s expectations to her advantage
Armitage recognises that she often races better when other people’s expectations of her are limited. “I think I actually perform best when people say that I can’t do it,” she explains. “Like, when people say, ‘oh, I don’t know if that’s going to be a good race for you, maybe it might be a bit too hard.’
"I think I perform best under those circumstances because you really don’t have anything to lose. You either prove them wrong and you do better, or you meet their expectations.”
What is actually more difficult is when they expect a lot. “For me, it’s harder when people are like, ‘oh yeah, Megan, you have this in the bag. Don’t worry about it.’ And I’m like, ‘oooh, I don’t know if I actually do…’ It is weird.”
7 Digging her heels in
Armitage’s final realisation about performance improvement is recognising that she must defend her position in the peloton with more conviction. That’s an ongoing adjustment, but one she knows she must make.
“It’s just experience, just having confidence in the bunch and being aggressive,” she explains. “Just being like, ‘no, I’ve worked harder than all of you girls, so I’m not going to just let you take my spot.’ It is about trying to hold your position.
“It’s funny, I can usually do it in races, but then there’s that one moment where it’s just a dog fight to get to the front. That’s where I’m still struggling.
“One example was in Het Nieuwsblad on the Mollenberg. I had fought to get to the front. I’d used so much energy to get to the front, and then it was just that last third [of the climb] for everyone. It was just like a washing machine, and I just got absolutely swallowed up.
“But it’s all learning. And hopefully I’ll keep on improving.”
